Glider pilot's death ruled as 'accident'

A 49-year-old glider pilot died after his aircraft spun and nosedived into the Long Mynd in the Shropshire Hills, an inquest has heard.

Witnesses said the Jantar Standard 2 glider, piloted by Mark Edwin Smallwood, was pointing up at a much steeper angle than would have been expected just after take off. Its left wing had then dipped as the glider stalled, it had spun and hit the ground nose first, the inquest heard yesterday.

Those arriving on the scene said it was clear nothing could be done to save Mr Smallwood, who had suffered multiple injuries.

The crash happened at the Midland Gliding Club, near Church Stretton, on May 31 this year.

The inquest, before a jury at Ludlow Magistrates Court, heard from Wing Commander Graeme Maidment who carried out the post-mortem.

He said: "The forces were extreme, beyond the range of human tolerance, the crash was not survivable."

Neal Clements, duty instructor at the time of the crash on May 31, said: "Mr Smallwood was very keen to learn and extremely keen to progress."

Mr Clements said Mr Smallwood's desire for a cross-country solo flight the previous day exceeded his abilities, and he had taken Mr Smallwood on a joint flight instead.

An investigation into the incident was carried out by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.

Tony Severs, from the branch, told the jury they had found no evidence of a mechanical fault with the glider and the most likely cause of the crash was the pilot over-rotating the glider just after take-off.

Mr Smallwood's sister Julie Rowlands said Mr Smallwood was a good father and brother.

The jury found that Mr Smallwood, of Tipton in the West Midlands, died as a result of an accident.